Taika Waititi says his upcoming Star Wars film will "harness a little more of the fun" of the original trilogy

Taika Waititi has teased his long-gestating Star Wars film, promising it's going to balance the director's usual comedy stylings with some high stakes in a galaxy far, far away.

Speaking to Variety, the Thor: Love and Thunder director said his untitled Star Wars project will harken back to the fun-filled days of the original trilogy.

“I’m just trying to go back and harness a little bit more of the fun from the original films, which is what I remember [from] them,” Waititi said.

He added, “The stakes are very high, and there’s serious things going on, but there’s also a lot of fun to be had in those films. That’s what I was trying to bring back,”

Waititi also reaffirmed that his Star Wars movie will be "a little bit separate" from other stories in the franchise and "a little bit more its own thing." (Curiously, in a similar move, Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter is shying away from using legacy characters).

First announced back on 2020's Star Wars Day, Waititi's Star Wars movie has been in development for so long that outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told GamesRadar+ back in 2022 that it was aiming for a "late 2023" release.

Waititi himself later explained to us his desire to expand the franchise with "new characters" away from the familiar faces that populate the galaxy.

"I don't think that I'm any use in the Star Wars universe making a film where everyone's like, 'Oh great, well that's the blueprints to the Millennium Falcon, ah that's Chewbacca's grandmother," Waititi said. "That all stands alone, that's great, though I would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise it feels like it's a very small story."

Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie is currently undated.

Need the skinny on what else is coming to the franchise? Here's our guide to upcoming Star Wars movies.